The New Romney Team is the Old McCain Team.

Jack Hamilton

Across Washington State as county conventions take place, our petty would-be fuhrers are polishing up their goose-steps and trying on their toothbrush mustaches, breaking rules and even laws to cheat at conventions and bring in the delegates for the former Massachusetts Governor who blueprinted Obama’s fascist health care law.

“But Doug!” (you say) “Aren’t your claims just hyperbole?”
Well, no. If a forger were to sit down and fabricate an email with the specific intent to implicate Kitsap County Chair Jack Hamilton in systematic rules violations, misusing his authority and seizing despotic authority he does not have he could hardly do better than the actual email Hamilton sent out himself. And we have it all here on The Reagan Wing.

We have not edited the text that follows, but have inserted comments and rules citations as a guide to Hamilton’s knee-jerk violations. Each section of Chairman Hamilton’s email message is indented, below, and appears under the big graphic quotation marks. Our comments are NOT indented to help you keep it straight:

Attached to this message you will find a copy of the proposed rules for convention, a copy of the current KCRP Bylaws, and a copy of the draft agenda for the convention. Please copy these documents and bring them with you to convention.

We are working to get additional information available for you on the web site. By Monday morning, I expect to see a four part series entitled Convention 101 posted as webinars. Each is about 7 to 10 minutes long. For first timers to a convention, this is useful information. For those who have attended prior conventions, the section on Roberts Rules may be of some value as a refresher.

All documents required by Delegates and Alternates will be posted to the web site so you will have additional access in case those sent as message attachments get lost. In addition, some reference documents are posted to the web site. I anticipate that we will finalize the list of Delegates and Alternates (except for last minute revisions) and will post that list to the web site by Tuesday. That posted list will not be official but will provide a good summary of what we know at that time.Contact data is nit (sic) listed because you did not give us permission to make general distribution of your email address.

Delegate contact information is the result of a public election. Obscuring it facilitates ballot fraud and obstructs free speech. Every candidate for public office that might be voted on by a registered voter in Kitsap County has a right to the complete list of County Delegates and their contact information. Communicating with those delegates is crucial to their campaigns. Every Republican in Kitsap County represented by those delegates has a right to communicate with the elected delegates. THAT’S WHAT REPRESENTATION IS ABOUT. Delegate Contact information is crucial both to fraud-free procedure and the free speech of free elections. (see; RNC rules 7 & 14) This is basic to democratic elections. How can Hamilton have forgotten these things? He continues:

Please do not attempt to contact other Delegates or Alternates from your precinct to make arrangements regarding who will actually serve as a delegate. The rules for promotion are established by Washington State Republican Party and only our Kitsap County Convention Credential Committee can make the necessary revisions and promotions. When the list is ported there will be information about how to contact the Committee in the event of a perceived error.

Please do your very best to come to convention prepared. It will be a busy time. For example, right now we have 120 plus declared candidates for state convention delegates in Commissioner District 1. The numbers for Districts 2 and 5 are 100 plus and about 70 respectively. If we actually give each candidate 15 seconds to talk, we could spend over half an hour on intros in CD1. We will be looking for ways to reduce that time.

This last paragraph literally makes Hamilton ineligible to chair the convention. Robet’s Rules of Order specifically prohibit ANY Chair from commenting or attempting to influence the assembly (convention) on any issue to come before it and he is clearly, here, attempting to promote severe restrictions on speeches, the very purpose of the convention. This is inexcusable. No Kitsap County Convention can, therefore, be chaired by Jack Hamilton in 2012 until the right of the candidates for State delegate to address their candidacy is firmly established. The rules establishing this principle are as old as Robert’s itself and they also bring into question Mr. Hamilton’s suitability to chair the County Central Committee. He is not impartial and he must be impartial. (Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised 11th Edition (RONR11): page 22, line 29: “…to maintain the chair’s necessary position of impartiality” page 53, line 20: “… the chair protects his position of impartiality” page 394, lines 26–31: “… the impartiality required of the chair in an assembly precludes his exercising these rights while he is presiding. Normally… he should have nothingto say on pending questions.”) As an aside, we understand that Mr. Hamilton has not arranged to rent the building long enough to ensure adequate time for a full convention. Astonishing incompetence. Hamilton continues:

Some additional personal comfort hints for convention:

1. Dress comfortably – conventions are not venues for
fashion statements. We really like RED, WHITE, and BLUE as primary convention colors. The Chair Will NOT be dressed in coat and tie.

The Chair has not been determined, Mr. Hamilton, so you could not possibly predict what he will be wearing. Convention Chair is an elected position, not an appointment you get to make, and if you WANT to be the permanent chair, you are specifically prohibited, as temporary chair, from recommending yourself for the office.

More from Jack:

2. This is a good time to put on that candidate T-Shirt.Since we are not going to have candidate signs or snake dances in the isles, the T-Shirts will show you candidate to advantage. (The same goes with campaign stickers and buttons.

There are NO rules against candidate signs. Anyone wishing to outlaw signs or any other form of speech can make a motion at the convention, but it is expressly prohibited for the CHAIR to make, recommend or express an opinion on such a motion, much less attempt to impose a rule from the Chair. Once again, Mr. Hamilton has demonstrated his ineligibility for that office. But he’s not done:

3. Bring a seat cushion. – We are not exactly sure what the
breakdown of chair types will be but a day of metal folding chair constitutes cruel and unusual. Certainly the bleachers that will be occupied by the Alternates and Guests will benefit from a bit of extra padding.

4. Bring some type of hard surface to write on. You will
need some backing when you are voting for delegates and may desire to make some notes on issues under discussion. It would also be good to bring some kind of “writing stick” (pencil or pen). We will have some available but the supply will be limited.

Because of the venue we are in, there is no opportunity to cater lunches for the participants. Bring a bag lunch. There will be an opportunity to purchase a sandwich or other basic food items (more on that menu later) and coffee and water will be on sale. We must restrict consumption of food to outside the gym area.

I am sure that there will be questions about cell phones and cameras inside the convention venue.

There should beno question. Republican Conventions are OPEN MEETINGS by National Rule. Phones, cameras and all other personal items are allowed by default. But Jack is just getting warmed up. The next is a doozy:

Please remember that the Kitsap County Republican Party is a private organization operating under it’s bylaws and policies. We are not subject to the “Open Meetings Act” and are not subject to the provisions of a meeting open to the public.

To the contrary, Mr. Hamilton, the KCRP is a county subdivision of a major political party operating under the laws of the State of Washington and by law it is owned by its grass roots voters, not by YOU. Their protection from corruption rests not in secrecy, but in OPENNESS.

Jack claims:

We reserve the right to protect the privacy of persons attending our functions and activities and the right to control the release of information about those activities and events. Individuals who are unable to comply with the policies should not seek to enter the convention hall, in any capacity. Those in the Convention Hall who fail to desist in conductcontrary to these policies, when asked to do so by a convention official, will be asked to leave the Convention Hall.

But here, Mr. Hamilton asserts the exact opposite of the truth. His intent to obscure the proceedings, to in effect, hold a secret meeting is specifically prohibited by National Rule. Were the prohibition he wants permissible (it’s not), his unilateral imposition of it would be illegal, his suggestion of it as a motion impermissible as a chair and expressing his opinion of it in a blast email a violation of the impartiality required of a chair. Once again, Jack Hamilton has no business chairing in Kitsap.

But I don’t think Mr. Hamilton actually wants to be the Chair… I think… he might want to be king…

1. We will ask that cell phone use by Delegates (and others in the Convention Hall) be restricted to essential or emergency personal communications. We do not intend that cell phones be used as a means of delegates or delegate groups to conduct intercommunications. If a faction requires a caucus, there is a procedure for requesting a caucus.
2. Video recording is not permitted inside the Convention Hall.

Mr. Hamilton has as much right to ban video recording as he does to ban breathing. If you want to cheat, however, and want to avoid there being a record of it, banning video is very important.

3. Still photography is permitted but must not conflict with or disrupt the business of the convention.4. Audio recording of the convention is not permitted.

Wow. Let’s go through this one more time just so everyone understands how out of line this email is:

There is NO RULE against audio (or video) recording.

Mr. Hamilton has no right to invent rules.

A Convention Chair cannot even make a motion for a rule.

A Convention Chair cannot even state an opinion on a prospective rule.

And even if he could state his opinion, even if he could make the motion, even if he could impose this rule by fiat, like the king he wishes he were, THIS PARTICULAR RULE IS PROHIBITED BY RNC 14 (c) OPEN MEETING.

Again, Mr. Hamilton demonstrates his unsuitability to “chair” stuff.

His email concludes:

With the exception of the period immediately preceding actual voting for state convention delegates, only delegates and appropriate convention officials will be allowed on the convention floor. Delegates may not be accompanies by minor children or other guests. Alternates will be directed to a specified seating area. Guests who are properly admitted
will be directed to a designated seating area. We strongly recommend that children under the age of 12 not be brought as guests to the convention.

Our relationship with the media, including the press, is maintained by establishing a single point of contact. While every individual attending Convention has a right to discuss their perceptions of the convention with the press, individuals, other than those specifically identified by
KCRP, may not represent “official” disclosures or representations to the media. If you are contacted by the media, please precede any remarks you may offer as being your personal impressions and not a representation of
the Republican Party.

We will have a number of individuals serving in dual capacities as Delegates and “Convention Officials” (Some officials will not be Delegates as the official duties would conflict with the demands placed on Delegates) Each of the “officials” will be identified by a second badge of a very visible color. If you have an administrative problem,
those are the individuals to seek out for resolution. If one of the “officials” asks you to do something, especially regarding access to the “floor”, being seated, or general conduct, please follow their instructions.

Not everything is going to work out exactly as we planned or want it to go. Be prepared for an occasional “burp” and put on you “flexible” face.
We will do our best to make this instructive, enjoyable, and worthwhile for everyone. When all is said and done, if we get our job done and we are still talking to each other, it will be counted as a success.

The enthusiastic support of Mike McGavick for U.S. Senate, or any other RINO based on their Establishment anointing over better alternatives is a characteristic Hamilton has consistently displayed, whether it be McCain or McAnybodyElse. Gingrich, as everyone knows, is temporary.

I have followed what has been going on across the country, and spoke with Jack and in this case I honestly believe Jack has his best intentions. I can’t speak 100% about the laws HOWEVER if certain media came and talked to him, he would allow video/pictures as long as they don’t film people without consent. We then discussed what makes a person “media” now a days, and he agreed that a Blogger who put their name attached to their work, and stood by it is media HOWEVER someone who writes anonymously doesn’t (Agree with 100%)

He is very open and easy to talk to :) If you are worried about things going unfairly, I would talk to him and ask to report it as media (you actual bloggers out there who blog respectfully not trolls)

That Jack is unqualified to chair is exemplified in your comment, Matt. It does not matter how “fair” he (or you) thinks he is being when he illegally imposes rules only the assembly can make. HE HAS NO AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE RULES at all. Let me put that another way: CONVENTION/CAUCUS CHAIRS HAVE NO RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY.

Suppose I decided to distribute the contents of your wallet… would you spend a lot of time wondering if I would be “fair” or say, Hey! Give that back! (?) This is exactly like that. This is not HIS convention, it belongs to the assembly. He is BOUND BY RULE not to intervene in any of the ways he is doing.

There never was any concern over the recording or documentation of our Conventions. Not in thirty years… UNTIL the GOP began systematically cheating in its procedure, violating rules to control outcomes and despotic Chairs wanted to cover their tracks claiming they hadn’t broken the rules they had broken.

Perhaps, as you suggest, Mr. Hamilton is just ignorant, a bungler, unfamiliar with his responsiblilities. That, in my mind, is no excuse. Our political process, misused, can do more damage than drunk driving. This is our country we’re talking about. This is our freedom in the balance. A despotic chair, inventing rules, can do more damage than would be possible if he only used a handgun.

A lot of these people have been chairing conventions since the dawn of time, and they’ve become used to violating rules designed to protect minorities only because there *were* no minorities. 2012 is the first time in living memory that we are seeing contested caucuses *after* the nominee has been effectively (though not certainly) decided. So it is unsurprising that longtime Republicans are used to following the pattern of deciding the chair by consensus ahead of time, routinely passing certain rules, and making suggestions regarding certain others. None of these people are professional parliamentarians. They can be forgiven for their errors — and these are, in the grand scheme of the convention, relatively minor errors.

Yes, now that they are facing contested conventions. Yes, now that the GOP is in that circumstances, they do need to start following the rules more strictly than they once did. Yes, Mr. Hamilton does need to send out a correction to his email. But he does not need to be denied election to the chairmanship, especially if he is otherwise well qualified, and all these frankly unkind aspersions toward him only discredit the Paul campaign (for that is the unspoken fact about all these contested conventions) among conventional Republican delegates.

You don’t win a convention rumpus by projecting huge amounts of anger with a thin foundation of rules to rest it on. You win a convention with the biggest smile in the world, a *genuine* desire to make friends — and the sharpest, cleanest, most focused parliamentary knives you can fashion. You win a convention by being the *last* person to draw a knife and the *first* person to plunge it in.

So take down the snide picture of Mr. Hamilton, make friends, say something nice about Gingrich (yes, there ARE nice things you can say), repeat that you’ll stand by the Republican nominee, whoever he may be, and then mention in a sidelong fashion that there’s a Republican rule (have the citation handy) which permits recording, so you just want to make sure everyone knows in advance that there’ll be recording. You make your position stronger, and, in a less brutally military perspective, you actually *get closer to your fellow conservatives* and local activists — and that’s a reward in itself, paying dividends long after 2012 is dust.

Wow, bagger, I’m impressed with your thinking. A lot of what you say makes sense. The only problem is that almost none of it is true. I assume that this is because you are filling in the blanks in your knowledge with “logical assumptions.” Let me help you out with the facts.

The “lot” of people “violating rules “since the dawn of time” have NOT been doing so because “there were no minorities,” but, rather to protect and defend pragmatic/left minorities from the action of the majority. They hold their positions for that reason.
The rest of your surmisals about “contested caucuses” are also historic fiction.
We sent conservatives to National in ‘88, ‘92 and ‘96, not slimy operatives of the “moderate/left” Presidential nominees and they were all contested.
The old hacks don’t “routinely pass certain rules,” they routinely cheat, but the means they use are always changing.
You say “they can be forgiven for their errors” – and I agree – all they have to do is ask forgiveness… by admitting they were wrong.
But one thing we CANNOT DO is allow the cheating to continue. In “the grand scheme of the convention” fixing the nomination by fraud is not minor, not even relatively so.

The “unkind aspersions” against Hamilton you allege but do not specify, that is, holding him accountable for his actions, will only discredit those of us who hold him accountable in the minds of those for whom integrity, accountability and ethics mean nothing and I, personally, quit caring about the approval of that kind of person sometime in the last millennium.

It will not be possible to save our nation if we depend on that kind of ally. They are those who have brought us this close to the end of the Republic.

It was only when you posited “huge amounts of anger” on a “thin foundation of rules” that I began to realize that you are a propagandist. You measure the article’s “anger” precisely by its exposes of Hamilton’s bad “foundation of rules” and subjectively, at your whim, pronounce one “huge” and the other “thin” even though they are essentially the same facts. That is pure spin, Mr. Bagger.

Your vicious, not to say ruthless vision of “how to win” – “by being the *last* person to draw a knife and the *first* person to plunge it in” is just icing on the cake of who you really are. No, Bagger, I have been on winning sides since long before the short convention histories you seem to know about, and the only real winners –ever– are those who stood on principle and had the fortune of a process not so corrupted they got to express those ideals.

The “snide picture [photo] of Mr. Hamilton” is one of which he has spent some years being proud. The only addition is the disclosure of the nature of the celebrity he embraces.

Our site has already said nice things about Gingrich on several occasions as perhaps you are disingenuously aware. But none of us make RINO pledges any more than does anyone from any camp who is principled.

Your advice about the recording “rule” betrays a sad outlook. Your concept was sculpted in bondage. THERE IS NO RULE “which permits” recording. America and the Republican Party were conceived in LIBERTY. We can do anything we want unless there is a rule AGAINST IT. We do NOT assume that we must have a rule to PERMIT it. If, in fact, there are so many people that believe the reverse, that live, not by the rule of law, but as you suggest, by the rule of men, waiting for someone’s permission, that they now form a Republican majority, then what some libertarians have been contending is true: Conservatism is dead.

And if it is dead it is only because of a long string of compromising Presidential nominees who have so distorted the ideals we espoused in 1980 and 1984 that the only ones drawn to our banner are hacks and opportunists, those who are “used to violating rules” and those who think it’s cool and want to learn how.
In my view it is worth any price the Party can pay to extract itself from that slow death.

If you get anything significant on video, be sure to send it to Fox 19 Ben Swann’s Reality Check. He’s documenting all the corruption, state by state, and putting it out on Youtube for the world to see.

I am glad to read that Hawkeye will be there. Thank you Hawkeye. Doug Parris is right on about this. I am personally, convinced that Jack Hamilton knows exactly what he is doing having been to the county and state convention in 2008 and witnessed/experienced the disenfranchisement of anyone who did not want McCain, especially, those of us for Ron Paul. He will attempt to do it again at both levels. He was very enthusiastic about it last time and will be again, I have no doubt. Hamilton is not for Gingrich, he wants us to believe he is. He is for Romney. It is a strategy to be a “role model” for others to take note, he has changed for the sake of “unity” to the supposed nominee. Don’t underestimate him, he will do all he can get away with to silence your voice if you aren’t obediently voting for Romney.

Matt West, the four “delegates” from Commissioner district one are two married couples who will vote for Romney. They might as well have been hand picked. There is a total of 9 (I think) of all the over 60 delegate positions we are allowed, voted in and going. All of them are obediently voting for Romney, I believe, there may be someone in there who isn’t but not that I know of. The large group of young people and those who agree to vote for Ron Paul will not have any representation at all from what I could see. I know I am not going to be represented and the money they charged to be a delegate was a complete farce and a “poll tax” without the poll. As long as Jack Hamilton is in the power handed him by the obedient, I will no longer have one thing to do with the republican party or the traitors to this nation that override the American people.

I have a few questions for anyone who was in attendance. Did Mr. Hamilton call for nominations from the floor for a permanent chair? Was he elected permanent chairman? Was their a rules committee report and did the body adopt rules? Did the chairman call for a vote to adjourn the meeting? If not, did anyone object to Robert’s Rules being abused on this point. What about the parliamentarian, did anyone question why he/she did not direct the chair to observe the rules if they were being ignored? Is there really a video – I haven’t found anything posted. Thanks!

No vote was taken to adjourn the meeting, Mr. Hamilton seemed to also act as the Parliamentarian, and some visitors called out about the rules not being followed to no avail. Yes there is video of the meeting not being adjourned despite Mr Hamilton ordering all recording devices to be turned off.